E32012: E3 2012 Hits Los Angeles

The veritable Super Bowl of the video gaming world, the Electronic Entertainment Expo otherwise known as E3, has officially kicked off this week in Los Angeles. Festivities began on Monday as the big time video game publishers, software, and hardware developers held special keynote media briefings for the press and industry professionals. Among the companies making presentations on Monday were Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Microsoft/Xbox 360, and Sony/Playstation who presented some of the titles that will be featured though out the expo later this week. The big story at the Microsoft presentation was of course, Halo 4. The latest installment in the franchise brings the story back to Master Chief, where the hero’s story left off at the end of the last game.

South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were in attendance for the Microsoft briefing to present their new DLC videogame, South Park: The Stick of Truth. To humorous effect, the two decided to not use any teleprompter and went off-script as Trey Parker joked about the perhaps pointlessness of digital accessories as it relates to console gaming. Singer Usher also made an appearance at the briefing to promote the game Dance Central 3.

The day rolled on with EA and Ubisoft who previewed a slate of compelling new titles. For EA, we got a look at Dead Space 3, the announcement of EA Sports now producing UFC video games, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, new expansion packs for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and a look at Madden 2013 using Kinect with a demonstration by former NFL quarterback Joe Montana.

Ubisoft showed off more of Far Cry 3, the American Revolution set Assassin’s Creed 3, The Avengers: Battle For Earth, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and an innovative new cyberpunk/action thriller in Watch Dogs.

Sony ended the day with their keynote conference and I think featured the best variety of new upcoming titles. Quantic Dream, the studio behind Heavy Rain, announced Beyond, a supernatural themed game which will star Ellen Page as a woman who can communicate with and perhaps harness the power of ghosts. We got a look at the God of War franchise prequel, Ascension, and also the next game from Naughty Dog: The Last of Us, a post-apocalyptic, intense tale of two people fighting for survival. Sony also showcased Sony All-Stars: Battle Royale. Think Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers except with Sony themed videogame characters which looked awesome. Sony also presented a new motion control gadget called the Wonderbook, obviously a youth-oriented interactive book accessory to let children play with an electronically interactive storybook. This will include a Harry Potter themed title called Book of Spells which basically teaches kids how to perform wizarding spells with new writing and poems by author J.K. Rowling. The live demo didn’t go off that smoothly.

Other titles set to be shown off at E3 this week will be Epic Mickey 2, Spec Ops: The Line, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Metal Gear: Rising, Tomb Raider, DMC – Devil May Cry, and more. We’ll be updating during the course of E3. So, be sure to check back in!